Thursday, 22 December 2011

This is an original Lucas Altette, bought from eBay for the Ariel. Apart from one stripped thread and non-original acorn nut, it is perfect.

It came with the right angle bracket, an original Lucas one, that is used on the earlier machines with the smaller battery. Since Amelia should have the big 20 Amphour battery, we will use the straight bracket shown attached to the horn. I bought this from Vintage Bike & it looks like a nice quality part.

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Not too much activity these last two weeks, as Christmas is coming and I've been away at work. However, I've managed to straighten the headlamp rim and I have stripped much of the scratched chrome away - there was a couple of very large scrape marks & dents. I've knocked out the dents and I have lead loaded the scrape marks. This needs a bit more work but is going to be a good solution.

I've missed a few eBay items - a pair of tank rubbers & plates, originals, which went for £51, a rear stand with all fittings which went for £130, and a lifting handle... No matter, I have plenty of other work faces!

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Well, the eBay parcels are still under wraps. Christmas is coming and sometimes it isn't wise to buy too many present for other women, however much shiny paint & chrome they will have when they are finished!

So in the meantime, let's get on with the headlamp. We've got a nice original SSU700, no repro bits here!

The instrument panel looks like it is off a WD bike; it's in great nick but the ammeter is wrong - it's not the white face one with the ignition light that should grace a Square Four headlamp.

Also, there are some flaky bits. The edges of the pilot light aperture are rather ragged - it's an aluminium casting and I'm not sure how to repair it yet. Then there is the rim:﻿

The picture is not too hot but it's bent and it looks like it has been thrown down the road. I'm going to see if I can straighten it before I give up and buy a new one.

Here's the inside of the switch panel from the inside. All right & proper, apart from the ammeter I mentioned before. A new one will have to wait though - the proper ones will be like hens teeth!

Lighting switch, cleaned up nicely.

Here's the pilot light mounting plate. It was missing, but I made this one from some photos & dimensions provided from the fantastic people on the AOMCC forum. It's designed to hold one of these in the underslung pilot lamp:

And here is the ammeter, with the steering damper knob lurking in the background. I'm going to tackle the rim and the headlamp fasteners with a Plug 'n' Plate chrome plating kit, and see how much of the original stuff I can save.

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

So, this weekend we finished off the distributor and did some easy jobs, painting one or two electrical pieces.

We also had a bit of an eBay-Fest, and got some good bits from John Mitchell

These two are the distributor cap again. If you look at the one on the left, you'll see the wire staples we put in have now been covered with an epoxy putty (free of metal fillers and non-conducting - thanks to the advice of the AOMCC members!). In the right picture, we've filed, sanded & painted the putty to match the rest of the distributor cap.

Here are a few more views of the ﻿finished distributor. It's been fully stripped down & cleaned. Painted parts have been re-painted, plated parts have been cleaned of any corrosion and replaced. The capacitor has been refitted, but we have no means of testing it so it may need some attention later. There is no evidence of pitting on the points though.

Last thing before we go back to work - the ignition switch and coil. The coil checks out on the meter, and has just been cleaned and repainted. The ignition switch has been stripped, cleaned and painted and a new key made from some scrap brass.

Next step - the headlamp!

In the meantime, eBay has come up trumps with original front mudguard, rear mudguard and lower chainguard. John Mitchell has sent a clutch lever (for the gearbox) and the offside footrest support, and we have one or two more original spanners for the toolkit.

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Here is the broken corner of the cap. The plan is that we will repair it with a metal loaded filler - we've fitted brass wires to small holes drilled in the cap, to act as a reinforcement for the filler... at least, that is the plan...﻿

This is Amelia... She is a 1951 Ariel Square Four Mk1 and she is my 50th birthday present! The engine turns over, she has good compression but there are a couple of broken fins...

Here are some pictures of Ariel parts. You can see the gearbox and the oil & petrol tanks, the forks are all there as well.

Most of it is there. You can see the clutch and the chain guard, the toolbox, the headlight which is correct & complete & most of the rear suspension components No mudguards or rear stand though, but we do have all the stays and the sidestand. There is a biscuit tin full of small parts - but it is only a small tin! I think we will be looking for a lot of items...

No footrests or speedo either. We'll see if we can find originals before we look at repro parts. See that two into one exhaust pipe? looks like someone had a sidecar at some time in her life!

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About Me

I'm a mechanical engineer by profession, working these last 25 years in the oil & gas industry. I've been riding bikes since I was 16, and spend my time tinkering with classic cars & bikes when I'm not working or looking after the house.
I'm married & have two great kids, who mostly share the passion!